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Dr Tony Alessandra

About Dr Tony Alessandra

Dr. Tony Alessandra has a street-wise, college-smart perspective on business. He helps companies convert prospects and customers into business apostles who will “preach the gospel” about your company and products; and how to out-market, out-sell and out-service the competition.

Dr. Alessandra earned a BBA from Notre Dame, an MBA from the Univ. of Connecticut and his PhD in marketing in 1976 from Georgia State University.

10 Sales Tips for Asking More Effective Questions

19 April 2016 by Dr Tony Alessandra

1) Ask permission. In some situations, it’s understood that you’re there to gather information. In other situations, it’s appropriate to show respect by asking permission to ask questions. Example question: “May I ask you some questions about your business?” This may be a rhetorical question, but it’s worth asking anyway. 2) Start broad, and then get… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Relationship Selling, Sales Prospecting, Sales Training

A winning image starts with a good self-image

19 November 2014 by Dr Tony Alessandra

A good self-image doesn’t follow success—it precedes it, as Robert L. Shook says in his book Winning Images. Someone saddled with a poor self-image may fool some people some of the time, but eventually he’ll fail, unless he comes to grips with his basic self-image. Many of us carry around an image that doesn’t really… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Self-Improvement

ADAPTABILITY-Can You Connect With Others?

12 August 2014 by Dr Tony Alessandra

How well you speak the other person’s language?  How well you get on that person’s wavelength?  There are some people, as professional as they are, as knowledgeable as they are, as helpful as they are, that simply just rub you the wrong way.  They’re just not your kind of people. I remember when I moved… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Relationship Selling

Becoming More Persuasive

23 January 2019 by Dr Tony Alessandra

Why are so many new ideas, even technically advanced or economically sound ones, such a tough sell? Isn’t it true, as the old saying goes, that if you invent a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door? No, that’s baloney! In fact, it’s never been less true. For one thing, people… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Professional & Self-Development, Self-Improvement

Burnout

19 April 2020 by Dr Tony Alessandra

How you can try so hard to succeed and yet fail I once knew a salesperson who was so successful that he failed. His sales and commissions were high and yet he failed. He was in his office at 6:00 a.m. each weekday and left at nearly 9:00 p.m. each evening. Weekends were used to… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Self-Improvement

Collaborative Negotiating Strategies

5 July 2017 by Dr Tony Alessandra

I believe there are two ways to negotiate: manipulatively and collaboratively. You could call it “win‑win” versus “win‑lose.” Manipulative negotiating sees the participants as adversaries. Tactics include exerting power, using subterfuge and hiding your own nonverbal communications.  There is a lot of mistrust, tension, and suspicion. The manipulative negotiator’s goal is to win. There are… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Negotiating

Collaborative Selling

14 October 2014 by Dr Tony Alessandra

Dr. Tony Alessandra describes the sales concept of Collaborative Selling. This video will help you understand the business of selling. It is not about what you want from the transaction that increases sales but rather what your customer wants. https://s3.amazonaws.com/TopSales/sales-library/2014/october-13/collaborative+selling_mq.mp4

Filed Under: Customer Experience, Relationship Selling, Video

Competition with Others

7 May 2014 by Dr Tony Alessandra

You might be tempted to say: “What’s wrong with a little competition?” Nothing’s wrong with it. It’s healthy. It’s when your need to compete, and be superior to someone else, gets in the way of the best possible outcome for both of you – that’s when competition becomes a liability. I’m talking about the kind… Read More

Filed Under: Article, General Sales, Self-Improvement

Customer Service – The DISC Styles Way!

31 July 2015 by Dr Tony Alessandra

Everywhere you turn today, you hear about the importance of customer satisfaction. From the bank to the phone company to the video store, every business seems to proclaim “The Customer Is King,” that “People Are Our Business,” that “Your Satisfaction Is Our No.1 Goal.” So, you might think that service is getting better with each… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Customer Experience

Dealing with Acceptance and Rejection

20 October 2018 by Dr Tony Alessandra

Throughout the sales process, you should always be listening to the questions prospects and customers ask you.  They are clues to what they are thinking.  The questions salespeople love to hear are the ones that signal an intent to buy including:  What credit terms do you offer?  Can I try it one more time?   How… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales, Sales Process, Sales Prospecting

DISC versus MBTI

10 March 2017 by Dr Tony Alessandra

I am often asked about the difference between DISC versus MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®) and if there’s an advantage in using one over the other. Both DISC and MBTI are assessment tools that provide insight into personality and behavior. Both are widely respected and used by individuals, organizations, institutions, and corporations worldwide. There are, however, a… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Tools

Effective Presentation Skills

6 March 2018 by Dr Tony Alessandra

The number one fear of most adults (even above death) is speaking in public.  Yet the ability to communicate to groups of people is a skill which can make a critical difference in our careers and in our ability to share information, ideas, experience, and enthusiasms with others.  A study conducted by AT&T and Stanford… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Presentations, Sales

Features versus Benefits

6 August 2014 by Dr Tony Alessandra

New salespeople are often confused by the difference between features and benefits and the role each plays in a presentation. A feature is an aspect of the product or service that exists regardless of the customer’s need for it. A benefit is the use or advantage a customer derives from a feature. For example, a… Read More

Filed Under: Article, General Sales

Follow-Up versus Follow-Through

15 August 2018 by Dr Tony Alessandra

What is your “follow-up reputation” in your business?  Is it ‘always and promptly’?  Or, is it ‘usually fairly timely’?  Or, could it be ‘doubtful it will get done’?  The highest performers keep their promises and exceed the expectations of their prospects and clients.  Be a bear about this one.  It isn’t a task to be… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Customer Experience, Sales, Sales Prospecting

Following Up After Your Prospect Says “NO”

8 September 2011 by Dr Tony Alessandra

If your prospect declines or delays the decision to do business with you, in other words, no sale, you have obligations to that person, which requires following up. First, the prospect deserves to be sincerely thanked for giving you an opportunity to exchange information. A hand-written note is always appreciated and sets you apart from… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Prospecting

Foolproof Sales Training

23 February 2017 by Dr Tony Alessandra

As a sales coach, you are ultimately responsible for the performance of the sales team. Part of your mission is to improve their sales performance year after year. To achieve that goal, you carefully analyze and manage territories, hire and fire, set minimum standards, set goals, create incentive programs and provide on‑going sales training and… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Motivational Management, Sales Coaching, Sales Management, Sales Training

How Adaptable are YOU?

22 September 2015 by Dr Tony Alessandra

What IS Adaptability? The concept of adaptability, as developed by Dr. Michael O’Connor, co-author of The Platinum Rule®, is a two-part process.  It combines flexibility with versatility. Flexibility is your willingness to adapt. It is your attitude. Versatility is your ability to adapt. It is your aptitude. The first half of the high adaptability formula… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales

How to Ask the Right Questions

19 May 2019 by Dr Tony Alessandra

Information gathering ‑ asking the right questions at the right time ‑ is essential to success in sales. Through skillful questioning, you initiate and maintain conversation that leads to sales and builds your image as a professional. No matter whether your prospects are reticent or talkative, your questioning skills will help you to uncover and… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Questioning Techniques, Sales

How to Bring Out the Best in Your Management Style

17 October 2014 by Dr Tony Alessandra

If you’re a manager, you should be very aware of your management style and how it can affect others. Being conscious of the extremes of your behavioral type will allow you to work more effectively with your direct reports, and transform from just a boss into a true leader. But before you do that, you’ll… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Leadership, Sales Management

How to Bring Out the Best of Your Sales Management Style

4 March 2019 by Dr Tony Alessandra

If you are a manager of salespeople, you should be very aware of your leadership style to allow you to work more effectively with your sales reps and transform from being just a boss into a true leader. However, before you do that, you will need to identify your sales management style. I espouse using… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Leadership, Sales Management

Identifying DISC Styles on the Phone

23 February 2018 by Dr Tony Alessandra

How Will You Know a High ‘D’ by Phone? When speaking on the phone to a High ‘D’, treat her the same way as in a person-to-person contact. Think of the ABC’s: Keep it abridged, brief and concise. Then we prepare our delivery with the bottom line in mind: “The trend in your industry is toward computer-generated graphics…. Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales Prospecting, Sales Training

Is it easy to be counted as a Genius?

16 July 2014 by Dr Tony Alessandra

What do “experts” know anyway? A number of the world’s all-time great geniuses were at first thought to be anything but gifted. Einstein, we know, left school in Germany because of poor grades in history and the language arts. The problem wasn’t Einstein, of course, but the type of learning he was forced to do,… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Self-Improvement

Key to Effective Feedback

2 June 2014 by Dr Tony Alessandra

Effective communication between two people is not easy. You really have to practice to make it work. Through the effective use of feedback skills, you can create a good communications climate. The following general guidelines will help you use your feedback skills more effectively. Give and Get Definitions. The interpretation of words or phrases may… Read More

Filed Under: Article, General Sales

Meeting Magic or Misery

9 May 2018 by Dr Tony Alessandra

Do you approach a corporate meeting expecting just another annoying waste of time?  Do you walk away from it wondering why you wasted your time?  If so, you know first hand how frustrating inefficient meetings can be.  Most managers spend 25-30% of their time in meetings and studies show that the average cost of a… Read More

Filed Under: Article, Sales, Sales Management, Sales Meetings

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